The novel of Emeritus King of Spain, Juan Carlos I de Borbón, it does not stop having unexpected twists and turns more in line with gossip programs than with the enormous repercussions that this can have for the parliamentary monarchy system of the Iberian country, notwithstanding the decisive efforts of the Royal House to separate itself from the new events.
(You may be interested in: The multimillion dollar purchases of the ex-lover of King Juan Carlos)
In a letter dated 2018 and published last Friday by the Spanish press, the emeritus king assures that his ex-lover Corinna Larsen, the protagonist of some accusations of corruption that forced him into exile, did not serve as a front man to hide his fortune.
She, who was his close friend between 2004 and 2009, had said that she received a hefty donation from the king, amounting to $ 65 million.
Everything was learned by an investigation of the Swiss newspaper ‘La Tribune de Geneve’. In an interview broadcast on Thursday by the BBC, Corinna Larsen claims that the King Emeritus, who abdicated in 2014, did this to her. “Extraordinarily generous gift” in gratitude for his friendship and for “taking care of him”, as well as to guarantee his future and also out of affection for her son.
Larsen, a German businesswoman of Danish origin, who took the surname of a German ex-husband, Prince zu Sayn-Wittgenstein, It is being investigated in Switzerland regarding funds deposited in this country by the former Spanish head of state, specifically 100 million dollars received from Saudi Arabia in 2011.
Along with her, other suspects are being investigated. The Swiss prosecutor has indications that the donation of 65 million dollars would aim to hide the remaining amount of the 100 million dollars initially paid by the Saudis by the intermediation that the monarch would have done in the construction of a high-speed train by Spanish companies in Saudi territory.
(Read also: The details in Brazil about the investigation against Efromovich)
If that were the case, and if the money is proven to have had an illicit origin, she would be guilty of a crime of money laundering, something that she categorically denies.
Therefore, Mrs. Corinna zu Sayn Wittgenstein never carried money on my account; contrary to what has been indicated in the Spanish press
–
–
The publication of the letter, dated August 12, 2018, shortly after some recordings where Larsen accuses Juan Carlos of corruption were leaked in the Spanish press, thus abounds in the thesis of the innocence of women.
The letter from the Spanish King Emeritus is written in French and addressed to one of his collaborators in Switzerland, the lawyer Dante Canonica. In it, Juan Carlos, head of state between 1975 and 2014, assures that the donation made in favor of Corinna in 2012 was “irrevocable”, and that he never sought to recover the money given to her.
“I did not receive any returns from her. Besides, I never asked for it, ”Juan Carlos writes in the letter. “Therefore, Mrs. Corinna zu Sayn Wittgenstein never carried money on my account; contrary to what has been indicated in the Spanish press ”, writes the ex-monarch.
–
Felipe VI came to the throne after Juan Carlos I abdicated in his favor in 2014. And although he has tried to dissociate himself from what happened, he fears that the scandal will affect the stability of the monarchy.
–
Juanjo Martín. AFP
–
–
–
The publication of the letter occurred the day after the interview on the BBC, where Larsen said that the king “confirmed that he never asked to recover the money, and that I never managed money for him”, which would free her from a possible charge of testaferrate.
During the interview with the BBC, Larsen also spoke about the controversial elephant hunt in Africa in which he participated with the Spanish monarch and that was the beginning of the end of his reign.
Larsen commented that Juan Carlos I, who a few weeks ago left Spain to settle in the United Arab Emirates, She had grown fond of her children during their romantic relationship and, years later – in 2012 – she traveled to Botswana with the then monarch to participate in an elephant hunt.
“I didn’t feel like going on that trip. I felt that King Juan Carlos was trying to get me back with her and I didn’t want to give the wrong impression. I almost had premonitions about this trip, ”Larsen said.
But on April 13, 2012, the king fell in his tent and broke his hip, prompting Spanish media to expose the trip.
The event occurred while Spain was experiencing a deep economic crisis, with unemployment rates of 23 percent.
(You might be interested in: The bad hour of a king. Editorial EL TIEMPO)
I think he did it for love. It was recognition for how much I meant to him, how much (the son) meant to him. It was gratitude for taking care of him during his worst moments
–
–
The BBC noted that in a statement to the Swiss prosecutor, Larsen said he believes the king gave him the money out of love.
“I think it was recognition for how much I meant to him, how much (the son) meant to him. It was gratitude for having taken care of him during his worst moments, “he said.
She insisted that the king was not trying to hide or launder the money by giving it to her.
The scandal caused by the ex-lover’s revelations led to the opening of judicial investigations in Switzerland and Spain.
INTERNATIONAL DRAFTING *
* With Efe-AFP
– .
